It's a genre that is selling the most these days and it’s a series that has already worked well with the Telugu audiences. So, after the successful Muni and Kanchana, Raghava Lawrence comes back with yet another sequel to his Muni series, this time titled Ganga. Let’s see if the film lives up to the expectations of all fans of Muni series…

Story:
Raghava (Raghava Lawrence) is a guy petrified of ghosts, but watches ghost films wearing diapers with kids from his neighbourhood. And when he is not busy with ghosts, he is the cameraman with a popular TV channel.

One day the TRPs of the channel take a dip and it falls to second slot. A little digging reveals that the rival channel’s popularity is due to God-based shows. So, the channel’s director Nandini (Tapsee) proposes that they must make a show on ghosts instead. And a reluctant Raghava tags along with Nandini and team to a secluded house in Bheemli to shoot the ‘ghosts’. There, Nandini unknowingly pulls out a mangalasutra from the beach and since then strange things start happening to the crew.

The rest of the film shows the relevance of the found mangalasutra and if Raghava and Nandini will return safely.

Artistes’ Performances:
Raghava Lawrence directs, writes and acts in the film. And he is the main protagonist as in all films. He is pretty convincing as the cameraman who is scared of ghosts. He gives the ladies meaty roles but makes sure that he gets his due too. Amidst all the loud comedy and CGI overdose, he also gets to do a romantic song each with both his leading ladies.

Tapsee Pannu gets a full-length role and she carries it off ‘pretty’ well. She is a perfect fit for the enthusiastic and confident director who goes ghost chasing. But there are parts when she does look strange. But one cannot totally blame her as she is possessed by a ghost by then. Otherwise, she pulls off her part convincingly.

Nithya Menon manages to hold her ground despite getting to play totally unglamourous role. But as always she uses her facial expressions to make up for clothes and other accessories. She seems to be experimenting with as many characters possible and this seems to be her catch for doing one with supernatural touch. As always she reminds you why she is considered to be a promising actress among her contemporaries.

Kovai Sarala is probably the ideal choice by Raghava Lawrence for the completely over the board mother who is almost goofy and hilarious to those who enjoy this genre of comedy.

Bharani is played by Jayaprakash who is another artiste who is very convincing in his role.

Since it is a dubbed film, the film has other comedy artistes who are staples in Tamil films and they all do the needful.

Technical Excellence:
The music incidentally has been composed by four music directors and the background score has been given by Thaman. But none of them do anything scintillating as is the case with cinematography. On the other hand, the editor could have worked a bit to shorten the length especially in the second half.

Since the climax if CGI filled, Lawrence should have taken care to make some interesting graphics to surprise the audience. But he makes no such efforts and simply sticks to ensuring that his now hit formula of mixing horror with comedy continues.

Highlights:

Comedy (only if you like it Muni style)

Raghava Lawrence

Heroines Tapsee and Nithya

Drawbacks:

Dragging second half

Not so exciting flashback

Lame climax

Analysis:
Muni, Kanchana and now Ganga – goes without saying Raghava Lawrence has surely struck the right chord with the audiences both in his native Tamil and in Telugu.

With Muni, he set the trend for horror comedies and now the genre is a sure-shot money churner both in Tamil and Telugu.

His latest sequel to Muni, Ganga is no exception and once again Lawrence mixes high doses of let’s say extremely loud and crass comedy with a horror story.

If some audiences found his earlier films inane, then Lawrence doesn’t seem to care, as he makes Ganga the same way he had made the earlier films in the series.

So, if you feel that the graphics are too tame for a commercial film or if you thought the story is too predictable, then rest assured that the series has its set of fans.

The entire ensemble cast of Lawrence does its bit to make the film as absurd as he wanted it to be and they totally succeed in making the audience who already like the genre thoroughly relate to them and the story.

Of course, in his urge to push back the flashback to increase the suspense element, Lawrence takes too much time which tests the patience of the audience in the second half.

Also, the flashback itself is not a huge surprise. It is thoroughly predictable and that takes away half the excitement. Another huge drawback is the very ‘normal’ climax sequence. Though it is all CGI, one is not happy with what is on offer as it once again nothing new and totally lacks the ‘awe’ element.

Having said that, the film has characters that the audiences will remember from earlier parts and that is bound to make an instant connection. Also, Tapsee and Nithya Menon put in good performances and that is a huge plus for the film.

Technically, the film has nothing different to offer and in fact it looks like a glorified and well-made telly series at places.

Yet, the series has its sets of audiences who follow it religiously and Raghava Lawrence seems to be very clear about what he wants to give his target audience with minimum possible budget. This he does successfully and churns out yet another sequel just the way his fans want it.

And just when you think it’s probably over, he promises he will be back with Muni 4 and even leaves the look as a parting gift for his loyal fans.

As we had said earlier, Ganga may not be a film that some audiences in A centres would want to buy a ticket and watch, but it is definitely a film that the mass audiences will thoroughly enjoy.

Bottomline: 'Perfect' sequel

(Venkat can be reached venkat@greatandhra.com or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)